No. 8 Ohio State Faces No. 3 Notre Dame on the Road

Gametracker | Ohio State Lacrosse GamedayOhio State Lacrosse This WeekThe No. 8-ranked Ohio State men’s lacrosse team (5-1, 0-1 ECAC) will take on its fourth-consecutive Top 11-ranked team when it faces No. 3 Notre Dame (4-1, 0-0 Big East) at 4 p.m. Wednesday in South Bend, Ind.

Follow AlongGame tracker live stats for the matchup between the Buckeyes and Irish will be available on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Updates will be available on the men’s lacrosse Twitter feed: @OhioState_MLAX. If the game is played outdoors, the matchup will be streamed for free through UND.com.

Matchup information, as well as links to follow each game, both home and away, through available live stats, audio and video, are updated prior to each contest on the Buckeye Lacrosse Gameday page (go.osu.edu/mlaxgameday).

Busy WeekOhio State will be back in action Saturday, taking on Bellarmine at 7 p.m. Saturday in Louisville, Ky., in an ECAC Lacrosse League matchup. The Buckeyes are 0-1 in conference play, falling to Denver, while the Knights are 2-1 with wins over Michigan and Air Force and a loss to Loyola. The game is the first of six-consecutive league contests for the Buckeyes.

Looking AheadAfter this week, the Buckeyes will host back-to-back ECAC Lacrosse League games, taking on Loyola at 1:30 p.m. March 30 and Hobart at 1 p.m. April 6 in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The team wraps its regular-season slate with road games at Michigan (April 13) and Air Force (April 20) before the home finale vs. Fairfield April 27.

In the PollsIn the polls released Monday, Ohio State moved up to No. 8 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media and USILA Coaches rankings. It is the team’s highest rank in the coaches poll since it was No. 6 May 3, 2004, while it reached eighth in the IL poll earlier this season.

Five opponents on Ohio State’s regular-season schedule are also currently ranked (IL/USILA): Loyola (9/6), Notre Dame (3/3), Denver (5/5), Virginia (13/14) and Penn State (19/17), with ECAC school Bellarmine receiving votes. Ohio State’s preseason slate included ranked teams in Johns Hopkins (9/6) and Syracuse (4/4) in the spring and North Carolina (13/14) and Lehigh (15/16) in the fall.

Ohio State is in a stretch of four-consecutive games vs. ranked opponents (in an 18-day span). After beating then-No. 8/8 Penn State March 2, the squad fell to then-No. 7/7 Denver last Saturday. It won at No. 11/9 Virginia Saturday and will now take on No. 3/3 Notre Dame Wednesday. Three of the four games will be on the road, with the Pioneers coming to Columbus.

Buckeyes OnlineKeep up with the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team throughout the year on OhioStateBuckeyes.com, the official website of the Ohio State Department of Athletics. In addition, the team is on Twitter (@OhioState_MLAX), facebook (facebook.com/OhioStateMensLacrosse) and Instagram (instagram.com/OhioState_MLAX).

Buckeye BioOhio State is 5-1 this season, with its lone loss to Denver March 2 in the ECAC opener. The Buckeyes posted an 11-10 win at Virgina Saturday in their last time out. The squad is 12th in the NCAA with 11.83 goals a game and 11th in team defense allowing 8.5 an outing. The man-up offense is second nationally, converting 13-of-22 chances (.591) and the man-down defense has stopped 10-of-18 opportunities (.556). The team has won 82-of-144 faceoffs (.569), ranking 12th nationally. The squad has averaged 12.33 turnovers per game to rank fourth in the nation and is ninth nationally in shooting percentage (.324).

Senior Logan Schuss has a team-best 16 goals and 23 points, while freshman Carter Brown is first with 11 assists and tied with Jesse King for second with 21 points each. King ranks second with 14 goals and Schuss and King are tied for second with seven assists each. In goal, junior Greg Dutton has started all six games and has an 8.31 goals-against average, ranking 11th nationally. Senior Trey Wilkes has won 64-of-108 faceoffs (.593) to lead the ECAC and rank 11th in the NCAA. Wilkes is first with 24 groundballs, followed by junior Darius Bowling with 22. Bowling leads the squad with 10 caused turnovers and junior Joe Meurer has eight.

Ohio State Vs. Notre DameOhio State and Notre Dame have met each year since 1981, with the series dating back to 1964. All-time the Irish lead the series, 30-21, with a 15-10 advantage in South Bend. The teams faced off as members of the Great Western Lacrosse league for a number of years before remaining on the schedule as non-conference foes when Notre Dame joined the Big East and Ohio State moved to the ECAC in 2010. The last three games have all been one-goal ones by the Irish, with 8-7 wins in Columbus in 2012 and South Bend in 2011. Notre Dame won the 2010 contest on its home field in overtime, 7-6.

Irish ItemsNotre Dame, ranked third nationally, is 4-1 this season and coming off a 13-12 overtime win against Denver at the Mile High Classic in Denver. It was the squad’s third overtime win this season, with a 10-9 OT victory at Penn State Feb. 24 and a 3OT defeat at home of North Carolina March 2. The squad also topped Duke, 13-5, on the road, with its loss to Hofstra March 9 (8-7).

The Irish average 10.6 goals a game while allowing 8.6 a contest. The squad is 3-for-13 (.231) on man-up chances and 10-for-13 (.769) on man-down. The squad averages 39.2 shots a contest, giving up 31.0 a game.

Jim Marlatt and Matt Kavanagh lead the team with 10 goals each and join Conor Doyle as the team’s leading scorers with 14 points each. Doyle is third with nine goals and first with five assists. Liam O’Connor has won 57-of-110 (.518) faceoffs and is first with 26 groundballs. In goal, John Kemp is 10th in the NCAA with an 8.27 goals-against average.

The Last Time - Ohio State vs. Notre Dame in 2012Ohio State’s rally fell short, as the squad dropped a non-conference game to No. 6/7-ranked Notre Dame, 8-7, March 21, 2012 in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. Against the Irish, the Buckeyes responded to tie the game twice in the first quarter before Notre Dame scored the only goal of the second stanza to head into halftime ahead 3-2. The teams traded goals twice in the third quarter, with Ohio State pulling within one twice. A goal by Notre Dame with 1:12 left in the third gave the Irish a two-goal lead (6-4) and a tally at 10:42 of the fourth quarter extended the score to three. The Buckeyes then scored back-to-back goals to draw within one (7-6) with 2:22 left. The Irish won the ensuing faceoff and scored just seven seconds later for an 8-6 advantage. Ohio State tallied with 19 seconds remaining in regulation for an 8-7 game and won the next faceoff, but the Irish defense forced a late turnover to preserve the win. Logan Schuss led the Buckeyes with two assists and three points, with Jesse King scoring twice.

Last Time Out - Buckeyes Top Cavaliers, 11-10, Saturday in CharlottesvilleOhio State posted an 11-10 victory at then-No. 9/11 Virginia Saturday at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. Ohio State trailed 4-1 late in the first quarter but went on a four-goal run to take a 5-4 lead with 3:30 left in the first half. The teams traded goals in the final 1:10 of the second quarter, with freshman Tyler Pfister scoring with 12 seconds remaining for a 6-5 Buckeye lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Ohio State scored the first goal before Virginia tied the game at 7-all at 10:09. Ohio State again responded quickly and Carter Brown put the Buckeyes ahead eight seconds later. The Cavaliers deadlocked the score at 8-all with 7:46 left but goals from David Planning (at 5:29) and Logan Schuss (with 4 seconds left) regained the Buckeye lead.

The Buckeyes held a 10-8 lead after three quarters before the game was delayed for an hour and 43 minutes because of weather. After the delay, the Cavaliers scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter, tying the game with 1:48 remaining but the Buckeyes caused a turnover after the ensuing faceoff and senior Dominique Alexander was able to score to put Ohio State back ahead, 11-10, 17 seconds later. Ohio State held Virginia scoreless the rest the way, including on a 30-second EMO chance in the final minute. Junior goalie Greg Dutton made three saves in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.

Back to Back (to Back) PointsSenior Logan Schuss enters the game at Notre Dame on a 51-game point streak (118g, 70a, 188p). Sophomore Jesse King is on a 12-game point streak (22g, 13a, 35p) and team-high eight-game goal scoring streak (17). Schuss, who had a 13-game assist streak ended at Virginia, has multiple points in each of his last 27 outings and goals in his last esven games (17). David Planning is on a seven-game point streak (9g, 3a, 12p) and freshman Carter Brown (10g, 11a, 21p) has a point (and at least one assist) in each of the first six games this year. Turner Evans has points (and at least one goal) in each of his last four games (7g, 2a, 9p) since returning from injury.